Officer Crabtree | Allo Allo Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit The character is an undercover British agent masquerading as a gendarme . His grasp of French is limited however, and this is represented on screen by his mangling of vowels for comic effect. Crabtree is occasionally heard speaking his maternal English, mostly when speaking to Fairfax and Carstairs . His bad French also seems to be contagious as several French characters (particularly Madame Edith ) end up speaking like him without realising it after hearing him talk. It is also of note that others, especially lead character René , will use his mangled French to insult him, such as in "Pass off" (for "Piss off"). A running gag throughout the series is that, when any of the other characters meet British officers (even Fairfax and Carstairs on one occasion, when they were to be disguised as gendarmes) their French is just the same as Crabtree's. After the character's introduction, various episodes were named in this talking manners (e.g. "Up the Crick Without a Piddle" for "Up the Creek without a Paddle" in Season 7).

==[ edit ] Personality Edit Out of all the Allo Allo characters, Crabtree is one with the smallest ego. He is shown to be very patriotic and extremely loyal to England. He is cunning and very intelligent, as well as being selfless and sarcastic. He is on incredibly good terms with the British Airmen and often lends them a few coins for them to go to the cinema (He once commented Go easy on the popcorn!). He is frequently rumoured by Lieutenant Gruber to speak Latin because he makes no sense at all. He has a habit of being sceptical and unusually perceptive. "Urgent Grace" Edit Crabtree had a girlfriend, another British agent (or "Brotish urgent") also dropped by parachute. He entered the cafe and asked for a "tible for two by the winedow". "Grace" then entered and said "Good moaning!" She also, it seemed, spoke appauling French. They had both trained at the British school of intelligentence. Examples of language Edit "Good Moaning" for "Good Morning" (his catchphrase ); "I was pissing by the door, when I heard two shats.

You are holding in your hand a smoking goon; you are clearly the guilty potty." for "I was passing by the door, when I heard two shots. You are holding in your hand a smoking gun; you are clearly the guilty party."; "Do you have the lung-dostance dick?" for "Do you have the long-distance duck?"; "And who is peeing for the ponsoir?" for "And who is paying for the pissoire?" after it was damaged by an overriding tank; "Your mither-in-loo does not look very well. She is more wronkled and higgerd than usual!" to Madame Edith, mistaking her for Madame Fanny.

"It is a dick night" for "It is a dark night"; "Half pissed sox" for "Half past six" ; "Will you please stop bonging the bill" for "Will you please stop banging the bell"; "I have good nose" for "I have good news"; "I will go out the bock pissage" for "I will go out the back passage"; "I have my dirty to do" for "I have my duty to do"; "In my bog I have a kak" for "In my bag I have a cake"; "I thonk it would be woose if we all left tin" for "I think it would be wise if we all left town"; "Too loot, the bummer is already on the wee" for "Too late, the bomber is already on the way"; "I have a mop if you would like to take a leak" for "I have a map if you would like to take a look"; "I have the two British earmen in the sill at the poloce station, I will return them to you as soon as pissable" for "I have the two British airmen in the cell at the police station, I will return them to you

 as soon as possible"; "Do not weary, Ronnie" for "Do not worry, René"; "I have come to collect my bersicle - René asks "What bersicle?" - "The bersicle that produces the electrocity for the roodio when you piddle in your wife's mothers' bedroom" for "I have come to collect my bicycle.

The bicycle that produces the electricity for the radio when you pedal in your wife's mothers' bedroom"; She's as possed as a newt" meaning "She's as pissed as a newt" Referring to René's mother-in-law . "I was raised in Nipples. As they say - see Nipples and do." while explaining to Herr Flick his strange accent, standing for: "I was raised in Naples. As they say - see Naples and die." One of his only lines that received almost no garbling produced one of his longest laughs: "They will take this spinner (spanner) and unscrew their nuts."; "I was wonking at you!" for "I was winking at you!"; "The British Air Farce have dropped their bums on the water works..They have scored a direct hot on the pimps" for "...a direct hit on the pumps"; "You must get your hands on some girls' knockers" (knickers); "There's obviously no piss for the wicked". 'Allo 'Allo! (Series) - TV Tropes 'Allo 'Allo! You need to login to do this.

Get Known if you don't have an account Share The main cast from the middle years. Standing, L-R: Lt. Gruber, Yvette, Edith, Crabtree, Helga, Herr Flick, Capt. Bertorelli; seated, L-R: Mimi, René, Michelle.note Not pictured: Mme. Fanny, M. Leclerc, Gen. von Klinkerhoffen, Col. von Strohm, Herr von Smallhausen. Michelle: Now listen very carefully, I shall say this only once. René: Have you ever said anything twice? Michelle: Yes! But only once. A 1980s BBC sitcom, set in Occupied France during World War II . Lasted from December, 1982 to December, 1992. A total of 85 episodes in nine seasons. Very much a parody of Secret Army , it starred Gorden Kaye as René Artois, owner of a restaurant in a small occupied French town, and a whole host of other characters (for a longer see here ).

For the most part, René — who would introduce each episode with a Fourth Wall -breaking monologue to the camera in which he'd helpfully recap the plot for us and gripe about it — just wants to keep his head down, stay out of trouble and fool around with the improbable number of beautiful women who are passionately attracted to him , but unfortunately for him he keeps getting dragged into numerous intrigues and shenanigans involving the French Resistance and the occupying Germans , who both view him as essential to their various schemes. The show was a huge hit at home and overseas. The BBC gave the producers a huge budget, allowing scripts to incorporate more zany stunts and explosions than one would expect of a story concerning the whereabouts of a painting and its forgeries. This show has its own tropes: Bad French accents. In fact, all of the accents were bad, including the British ones. Whilst all the dialogue was actually in English, comical 'national' accents were used to imply the language being spoken — several times, a 'French' character overhears a conversation in e.g.

a British accent, then tells another 'Frenchman' (in the show's default French-accented English) they have no idea what was said, as they don't speak English. Maria's accent in particular became so extreme that other characters would reach for towels to wipe away the spit. Multiple character and actor replacements of various types - Suspiciously Similar Substitutes for Leclerc, and various waitresses. The Other Darrin , for the Italian Captain. The Nth Doctor , for Herr Flick in later seasons, whose actor is replaced, and the change explained by Magic Plastic Surgery . Subverted, inverted, or simply trashed completely by Rene himself, who spent most of the series' run posing as his non-existent twin brother - ie, the same actor playing the same character, posing as a non-existent different character, well-known or undetected in-universe as the plot required.... At least four Put on a Bus schemes involving various characters leaving Nouvion. (Maria, Hans Geering, the original Leclerc and eventually, the British Airmen). A very big Story Arc involving a MacGuffin painting ("The Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies" by Von Klomp).

Two very stereotypical British pilots and the Resistance's disastrous plans to get them back to England. The British agent disguised as a French policeman, who got a vowel wrong in every second word ("Good moaning") implying his bad command of French. Virtually all the Resistance are female , and they almost always all wear black berets and long beige raincoats ("like all other French girls"). The Communist Resistance dress in a different, but uniform fashion and only do things for money... "Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once". Catchphrase of resistance leader Michelle. René's failed attempts to have illicit romance with three of his waitresses (two of them at the same time, mind you). The radio hidden under Edith's mother's bed, complete with flashing knobs. More double entendres than you can (ahem) shake a stick at. See immediately above for one of the milder examples. Came thirteenth in Britain's Best Sitcom . A one-off Reunion Show was aired in 2007. This show provides examples of: All Girls Want Bad Boys : It's the cruelty what arouses Helga in Herr Flick. Ambiguously Gay : Lt. Gruber.

Camp as all get-out, and flirts endlessly with René. The Distant Finale makes it decidedly unambiguous, as he's hooked up with Helga. Unless it was a marriage of convenience . As You Know : René recaps, originally meant to merely ape similar, more dramatic shows. Attending Your Own Funeral : René was executed by the Nazis but the Colonel and Hans save him by giving the firing squad fake bullets (and the real bullets as well, but they were lucky). René then poses as his own twin brother and has to organise his own funeral, and pose as the dead body when the undertaker arrives. Back Up Twin : An in-universe example, after René stages his death he pretends to be his own twin brother... who's also called René. Bad Habits : One of LeClerc's many disguises, such as when he came to give René and the others a saw to break out of prison. It doesn't help. Crabtree was replaced as the priest to marry René and the head of the resistance (who was replaced twice anyway). Herr Flick and von Smallhausen disguise themselves as monks to infiltrate a monastery.

The Baroness : Helga, clearly a spoof. Becoming the Mask : Agent Crabtree. Almost immediately, Crabtree starts to live his assumed role of policeman, practically forgetting that he's supposed to be an undercover agent. Leads to much consternation and hilarity on several occasions as when Crabtree reports Gruber's little tank as missing (Rene and Capt. Geering have 'borrowed' it for a secret task) and bravely confronting Bertorelli's gang trying to break into Secret Gestapo Headquitters, *ahem* Headquarters, and getting knocked out as a reward. In fact, in the reunion special set years after the war, Crabtree is still in Nouvion and still a gendarme. Bill... Bill... Junk... Bill... : Played with in the reunion special: René: Bill... Bill... Bill... I do wish he would stop writing to me. Blatant Lies : Nearly every single character ends up uttering these at several times per episode, usually when trying to explain the bizarre situations they find themselves in. And of course, René's increasingly ridiculous explanations to Edith when caught in compromising situations with his waitresses.

Breaking the Fourth Wall : Many episodes begin with René addressing the audience, recapping the previous episode to explain why he is in whatever bizarre situation du jour that he is in. ("You may be wondering why...") Break Out the Museum Piece : One plan to get rid of the British Airmen evolved around stealing an old plane out of a museum and using the engine from the General's lawnmower. Breast Expansion : Helga in the episode "A Woman Never Lies". Bride and Switch : One of the many Gambit Pileups had Rene due to marry the leader of the Communist resistance, who was replaced by his waitress Yvette, who was then replaced by his wife Edith (although Rene at that point was playing his own twin brother). The vicar had also been secretly replaced by Officer Crabtree, so we aren't sure exactly whether anyone had managed to get married. British Brevity : Played straight with most of the show's seasons, which usually had between 6 and 8 episodes each. Averted big-time by the fifth season however, which had 26 episodes, the same length as a season of most live-action American sitcoms, in an attempt to appeal to transatlantic audiences.

The seventh season is a borderline case, as it had 10 episodes; still way short of what most American sitcoms would have in a season, but longer than the average Britcom season. The Bus Came Back : When René and Edith go to England they meet Hans, who has since been brainwashed into working for the British government. Plus, the two airmen reappearing in the final episode after disappearing at the beginning of the 8th season. Camp Gay : Gruber. Also General von Flockenstuffen. Captive Date : Herr Flick has at last one with Helga. Catch Phrase : This show is probably a prime example. Not only does every character have at least one, but in later episodes, the characters occasionally "borrow" them from other characters. In fact, Harry Enfield once claimed that the show had so many catchphrases, all of which appeared at least Once an Episode , that there were only about ten minutes' worth of original dialogue per show. It nonetheless stayed fresh because so many situational spins could be put on the catchphrases.

Officer Crabtree's "Good Moaning!" is probably the most famous of the lot and the most likely to be repeated by those only familiar in passing with the show. Michelle of the Resistance's "Listen very carefully, I shall say zis only once". (There was a tie-in book that included a note from Michelle, which ended "Read this very carefully, I wrote it only once.") Anytime Edith would catch René in a compromising situation with one of the waitresses (almost never innocent) and ask him what they were doing, René would growl "You stew-pid woman! Can you not see...?!" followed by some ridiculous explanation that, despite its obvious implausibility, Edith would either believe or let slide. This notion was subverted in the series finale with "You stew-pid woman! Can you not see? I am eloping!!!" Herr Flick to Helga: "You may kiss me." Captain Bertorelli: "What a mistake-a to make-a!" "'Tis I, Leclerc" when revealing his Paper-Thin Disguise . Yvette: "Oooooooh, Rene!" "'Tler!" was Hans' substitute for "Heil Hitler".

This caused rumors that this was due to Sam Kelly (who is Jewish) refusing to do the full salute, which he denied, claiming that the "'Tler!" was meant to emphasize Hans' laziness. No - he was not saying " Klop ". Madame Fanny: "Zee flasheeng knobs!" Used whenever Nighthawk received a message from England. Monsieur Alfonse has two: "Swiftly and with style" (the slogan of his undertaking business) and "My dicky ticker!". Character Outlives Actor : Jack Haig, who played forger Roger Leclerc, died of cancer in 1989 toward the end of Series 5. He was written out as having voluntarily returned to prison (finding the food better than that at Cafe Rene) and being replaced by his brother Ernest.

(The first actor to play Ernest, Derek Royle, also died after one season, but the role was then recast with the much younger Robin Parkinson .) Characterization Marches On : Herr Flick was originally a very stoic and flat villain but the writers quickly realized that they could get Richard Gibson to say and do some truly ridiculous things while keeping a straight face, so Flick soon became a driving force of much of the comedy. The same thing quickly happened to Von Smallhausen. General Von Klinkerhoffen was intended to replace Herr Flick as a new straight villain but, once again, the writers realized that it was funnier to give him a corrupt and lascivious side so the character became sillier. The writers soon had to resort to using temporary guest generals if they wanted a story to have a proper villain. Deadpan Snarker : Almost every character.

René is worn down by married life with Edith and having her mother living in his attic, then getting caught in the crosshairs between the local Wehrmacht soldiers, the local Gestapo officers, and the local Resistance fighters and their hare-brained schemes, and uses deadpan sarcasm to deal with the situation, usually in the form of asides to either the audience or his waitresses. Michelle: Is your wife's mother prepared to die for France? René: She has been prepared to die for thirty years, but she doesn't go! I think that God does not want the aggravation. Helga has a sarcastic side which becomes more evident as her infatuation with Herr Flick slowly gives way to exasperation over the course of the series. Herr Flick: Ah, Helga. I vas just trying on my new boots. (the boots in question have six-inch thick soles) Helga: How strange. The boots seem too big for you. (to herself) Normally, it's the other vay round. According to Colonel Von Strohm, Lieutenant Gruber is very reticent when it comes to "women of the opposite sex".

There are several references to being "disguised as a woman of the opposite sex". Fraulein Von Kinkenrotten is one of Helga's "most intimate female girlfriends". Descending Ceiling : In "Herr Flick's Revenge", René, the Colonel and Hans are trapped in a castle dungeon underneath one of these, and Herr Flick orders Helga to lower the ceiling to torture the 3 men into confessing where the painting of the fallen Madonna is. Luckily, general Von Klinkerhoffen arrives in time to stop Herr Flick. Disguised in Drag : Multiple times. Herr Flick and Von Smallhausen pretend to be female German soldiers so they can visit Helga... and they're forced to do gym in their underwear and the obviously fake breasts go flying. The British Airmen are disguised as resistance girls once (René also takes on the disguise for one episode) and as nuns when they're in hiding. In a multi-episode example, Herr Flick is disguised as "Fraulein Von Kinkenrotten" to spy on the general.

When the General discovers the deception, he has Kinkenrotten, stripped to 'her' rather alluring lingerie, chained up in the dungeon, where 'she' remains until next season. The eventual escape plot results in René betrayed into exchanging places with Herr Flick, chained up in the same underwear (which is rather less alluring on him). The female characters were also regularly disguised as male: Michelle: You will be disguised as a small boy. Maria: Why can I not be disguised as a small girl? Michelle: Because you ARE a small girl! Lieutenant Gruber does this a lot, including having disguised himself as nun , and a Resistance girl . One time, Colonel von Strohm was planning something that would have put René in danger, and he knew that if given the chance, Lieutenant Gruber would have run off to warn René. So he ordered Gruber to remain in the office, and even went so far as to demand he strip off his uniform so he wouldn't be able to leave. Undeterred, Gruber then swiped a set of clothes from Helga, including her spare wig, and showed up at Café René dressed like an army woman.

Colonel von Strohm and Lieutenant Gruber disguised themselves as female nurses to sneak into a hospital so they could place an exploding bedpan under Monsieur Alphonse. Colonel von Strohm and Lieutenant Gruber disguised themselves in Spanish Flamenco dancer dresses, trying to flee / sneak across the border into Spain. The plan didn't work, so they returned to the Café René to hide there. The waitresses suggest the two men disguise themselves as ladies of the night, but put them in less classy dresses first so they'll "blend in" better. René was in the café disguised as a Resistance girl , when Lieutenant Gruber saw him and asked him to dance. note This is sort of a running joke. Gruber is extremely attracted to René. And he also tends to be extremely drawn to him, even when he's in disguise and he doesn't actually know it's him. All the more funny here, since the only reason he's asking a "woman" to dance in the first place is because it's a really manly-looking woman. René also wore a dress in the can-can number the various characters put on for the POW camp inmates. Maria makes for an extremely adorable and effeminate young errand boy .

She was also seen sporting a black top hat and tails and a mustache once, as were Yvette and Michelle at the time. Herr von Smallhausen once dressed up in a very matronly pink dress and hat and sat at a table in the café across from Herr Flick, the two of them apparently disguised as a husband and wife pair. Distant Finale : Takes place in The '90s , several decades after the end of the war. The now elderly principal characters get together one last time, "The Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies" is reunited with the missing piece, René steals it and finally succeeds in eloping with his waitress. Getting Crap Past the Radar : A memorable moment where they used Crabtree's extremely bad French accent to slip some swearing into the script. After a gun is fired (twice) in the cafe, Crabtree enters with this line. "I was pissing by the front door when I heard two shits! You are holding in your hand a smoking goon, you are clearly the guilty potty!"note I was passing by the front door when I heard two shots! You are holding in your hand a smoking gun, you are clearly the guilty party!

And of course everyone should be grateful that "the British bummers are still farting for freedom" note The British bombers are still fighting for freedom. The Ghost : Clarence who drives Lt. Gruber's little tank. Lampshade Hanging : "Ah! Colonel! How nice that you should come into my Cafe at this precise moment!" Many of René's opening monologues to camera feature the tendency to lampshade the implausibility of events surrounding him. A priceless cuckoo clock is stolen, hidden and used as a MacGuffin for the better part of a season, then apparently forgotten by the writers . When, several seasons later, it's once again included in the list of stolen artifacts, René remarks "I had forgotten about the cuckoo clock..." Language Barrier : The British airmen Carstairs and Fairfax don't speak French, and Michelle is the only one in the Resistance who speaks English. People from Café René who hide them don't understand them a single word. Averted with other characters who presumably speak their national languages (French, German, Italian) all the time, but understand each other just fine.

British agent Crabtree who poses as a French policeman speaks horrible "French" and speaks nearly entirely in malapropisms. What he means is usually confusing, but there is always someone who gets it and translates it to others. La Rï¿½sistance : Two different ones, reflecting the Real Life situation in France; all female and all wearing the same grey trenchcoats and berets. The Gaullist lot, which Michelle is part of and the Communist lot, whose leader wants to sleep with René. Letting Her Hair Down : Helga always wears her blond hair in beautiful milkmaid braid. When she wants to seduce somebody or when ordered, she gladly lets her hair down. Meaningful Name : Tons of them: The last name of the Gestapo officer Herr Flick comes from Flic — an insulting French term for a police officer. "Fick" is also the F word in German, causing some confusion when Otto introduces himself as "Flick, the Gestapo." And then there's his comb-over hairstyle - literally a "hair flick". Typographically speaking, kerning the name FLICK inattentively could lead the "LI" being viewed as a "U".

Also could be meant to evoke real-life Gestapo man Wilhelm Frick. René's wife Edith has a similar repertoire to Edith Piaf, except that she's a terrible singer, and her middle name Melba is also an ironic reference to a famous singer. All of the waitresses have Double Entendre last names — Yvette's last name is Carte-Blanche, Maria's is Recalmier, a type of bed, and Mimi's surname, LaBonq has an obvious meaning. Many of the German officers, including a meeting which included, among others, a General Stiffenwalken and an Admiral Sinkenquicken. And there's the time Flick's diminutive sidekick von Smallhausen (get it?) tries to pass himself off as Field Marshal von Crackenfart. In the play you also get General von Schmelling. Minion with an F in Evil : Colonel von Strom and especially Captain Geering are sometimes this to General von Klinkerhoffen (on an ordinary days they just fit the role of Punch Clock Villain ). And Gruber for them. Von Smallhausen is this to Herr Flick.

Mistaken for Cheating : Invoked and played with a lot. Edith often catches René making out with one of his waitresses or some other woman, and each and every time he just comes up with a lame excuse to make her believe it's this trope. The kicker of course is that he is very much cheating on her. And she buys it every single time. He only drops the act in the final episode. Paper-Thin Disguise : (raise his glasses) "It is I, LeClerc!" His disguise was so obvious it was painful. Happens in a different way with Herr Flick and Herr von Smallhausen. Usually their disguises are a lot more convincing than those worn by the French characters, but they undo this by continuing to act like Gestapo officers, regardless of what they're supposed to be disguised as. Virtually every single disguise (which are numerous given the nature of the show) is as paper-thin as possible (including moustached nuns) for purely comedic purposes. Averted with Lt. Gruber's nurse disguise. He was quite convincing. Also averted another time that Lieutenant Gruber was Disguised in Drag .

He was so convincing that General Klinkerhoffen tried to pick him up for a date. Maria is way too feminine and cute to be even an adolescent errand boy. Phrase Catcher : Nearly every character on the show has a Catch Phrase. Sometimes they are directed at a specific person, the one and only. René keeps getting "Oooooh, René!" from Yvette. Maria, Mimi or Madame Edith are little less hammy, and it's mostly "Oooh, René". Lt. Gruber often exclaims "Ooh, René" as well. René from his wife: "What are you doing holding that serving girl in your arms?" Whenever he's caught in a compromising position with one of the waitresses. Madame Edith, whenever she catches her husband René hugging his mistress, gets: "You stu-pid woman! Can you not see that <insert ridiculous explanation>?" Herr Otto Flick from Gestapo always says to Helga: "You may kiss me." She kisses him very passionately. He seems to like it, yet he remains poker-faced.

René in response to an "It is I, LeClerc": "I know it is you, you old fool. What do you want?". Playing Gertrude : An unusually aged version; Rose Hill (67 when the show began) was only eight years older than her onscreen daughter Carmen Silvera (59 at the start). Disguised better than usual as Hill spent most of the series almost invisible under her huge night-cap, with her body hidden under blankets. Pragmatic Villainy : In the final series, General Von Klinkerhoffen plots to assassinate Hitler... but only because the war is going badly for the Germans and he considers Hitler responsible. Put on a Bus : Maria and Hans both disappear from the series after attempts to escape from the POW camp in which most of the main characters find themselves at the end of Series 3 do not go according to plan (Maria posts herself out in a Red Cross package that gets misrouted, Hans is catapulted over the fence and mistakenly taken back to Britain by the Resistance). Roger Leclerc returns to prison between Series 5 and 6, finding the food there better than that at Café René.

(This move was necessitated by the death of actor Jack Haig.) Subverted with the British Airmen: the cast spent the entire series attempting to put them on a bus, but it never stuck (they got them out for a while between Series 7 and 8, but they were shot down again during the Normandy invasion). Queer People Are Funny : Gruber. As an example when Captain Bertorelli is introduced to the Colonel, Helga, and Gruber he gives the first two kisses on the cheek, then shakes Gruber's hand. Gruber: Ah, the General told me about you. Bertorelli: The General told ME about YOU. Von Strohm's usual motivation is that he'll be sent to the Russian front if he fails his superiors. General von Klinkerhoffen threatens several times with sending various characters to the Russian front. Replacement Scrappy : Captain Bertorelli is an in-universe example, mostly because the Germans tend to view the Italians as their poor cousins, though Bertorelli's personal mannerisms certainly don't help him any. In-Universe Played With by Mimi; Rene isn't all that keen on her, mostly because of how insane she is.

He seemed to be really torn between Yvette and Maria, but when it was Yvette or Mimi, Yvette became his number one girl. Most of the other characters actually seem to prefer her over Maria because she's really into fighting. Rube Goldberg Device : Many of the schemes involved something along these lines. Running Gag : Several. René is always embracing Yvette when Edith comes in, yet manages to think up a halfbaked excuse to explain the awkward situation, which Edith invariably believes. Leclerc always enters in an obvious disguise, yet he still feels the need to explain who he is. A few episodes into the run, Madame Fanny's Catch Phrase of "Ze flashing knobs!" when her bedknobs began flashing to signal an incoming message from London prompts Leclerc to sit up in bed next to her. A few more episodes into the run, variations on this gag appear as other characters are revealed to be hiding in Madame Fanny's bed when messages arive from London. Self-Deprecation : Pretty much all the British characters are presented as complete idiots, happy to be confined for years in cupboards, latrines, meal trollies and the like. Serenade Your Lover : Parodied.

Lieutenant Gruber sings love songs to René on several occasions, once singing "Mad About the Boy" to him, and another time gazing at him as he sang the line "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" from the song of the same name. Series Fauxnale : The last episode of the second season was written as the Series Finale , because the show's producer thought there was zero chance of it being renewed for a third season. As it turned out though, he was quite wrong. Serious Business : Most of the show, but especially anything Herr Flick does. You might think his excessively serious persona is a facade to make his Gestapo work easier, but if it is he has long since become the mask . Shout-Out : During the season two Christmas special multiple people were trying to kill General Von Klinkerhoffen during the chicken dinner. Herr Flick was trying to get Helga to kill him with a poison dart and to make a long story short Flick got hit with it instead causing him to convulse on the floor. After Rene and Helga give him the antidote and get him back to his meal, Klinkerhoffen asks Helga what was wrong with him.

She answers: "He had the fish." During the "escape from the prisoner of war camp" arc there's a number of little shout outs to The Great Escape , as they put dirt in Rene's trousers so he can dump it around the camp (in the original they had inside pockets that released the dirt). One of the two MacGuffin paintings is actually a variant of Van Gogh's Sunflowers. Pity they value it less than the fictional Madonna with the Big Boobies. The infamous apron camera Rene is forced to use in one episode alludes to a scene from Are You Being Served? in which Kaye appeared. In it, he was a Scotsman who wished to buy a raincoat. While trying it on, it looks like he's practicing flashing people. When Mr. Humphries and Mr. Lucas enquire what he's doing, he reveals that he's actually an ambush photographer. He then demonstrates by using the camera concealed in his kilt's sporran. When Rene is posing as his own twin brother and said he comes from the city of Nancy, Gruber asks if that was also true of his 'late brother': Rene: Yes, we are both Nancy boys.

A rather off-colour Casting Gag : Gorden Kaye who played Rene came out during the run of the show. Theme Tune Cameo : In one episode, an accordionist is heard wandering the town square outside the cafe, playing a slower version of the theme on his accordion. Episode "Leclerc Against the Wall" featured the usual opening shot of Rene in his cafe as the instrumental theme song plays. It fades out as Rene begins playing the exact same song on the cafe piano. Those Wacky Nazis : And they actually are wacky as they are Played for Laughs . Some of them manage to be completely endearing or loveable. The show was sold all over the world, though there was one notable exception - Word of God is that when a delegation from German TV was received at the height of the show's popularity they loved it and found it hilarious. "But," they said sadly, "we'd never be allowed to show it." This state of affairs lasted until 2008 when a private German television network picked up the entire series. Time Skip : The first seven seasons took place over only a few months.

There is a two-year jump between Series 7 and 8, reflecting the real-life gap (due to Gordon Kaye needing to recuperate after being seriously injured) between the two series. Translation Convention : Since the English dialogue is "really" in French, other accents denoted other languages. Michelle would adopt a plummy I-say-chaps accent when speaking English to the British airmen, and Officer Crabtree's malapropisms - "Good moaning! I was just pissing by..." - are due to his poor command of French. An odd syntax is used to help suggest French's different grammar (such as René saying things like "it is the bed of the mother of my wife!" without possessives). Ugly Guy, Hot Wife : Not hot wife, but numerous hot women lusted after René... not to mention Lt. Gruber. And his affairs with his two waitresses have, according to Herr Flick in series 7, given him the nickname "Menage Artois". Villain Decay : As detailed under Characterization Marches On , this happened to most of the recurring villainous characters.

Herr Flick was genuinely sinister in his early appearances, until the writers discovered Richard Gibson's gift for delivering silly lines in a completely serious tone of voice. Herr von Smallhausen was likewise a cold, unsettling character in his first few episodes, but quickly became a dimwitted buffoon who makes a complete hash of anything Herr Flick orders him to do. And when General von Klinkerhoffen was introduced to pick up the villainy slack from Herr Flick, he too went from the closest the series had to a depiction of actual Nazi officers during the French Occupation to a mentally unbalanced martinet who shared the other Germans' penchant for kinkiness in the bedroom. World of Ham Your Mom : In "Who's for the Vatican" General von Klinkerhoffen uses a "your mom" joke to Kick the Dog when he tells Gruber that his posting to the Russian Front will also include his [Gruber's] mother. Zany Scheme : Suffice to say that any attempt to acquire the Fallen Madonna or get the British airmen back to Britain is rarely straightforward. :: Indexes :: BBC - Comedy - 'Allo 'Allo! 'Allo 'Allo! 'Allo 'Allo!

René Artois is a café owner in the Nazi-occupied French town of Nouvion, whose efforts to appease a range of opposing factions without being killed provide the unlikely scenario for this long-running hit BBC One sitcom. German Colonel Von Strohm is on good terms with René but exploits the café to hide a stolen painting (the oft-mentioned Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies by Van Klomp) he plans to sell after the war for his retirement. Unfortunately Hitler also wants the painting and has sent Gestapo agent Otto Flick to find it. But the Germans aren't René's only problem. The French Resistance, led by Michelle, force him to aid their persistent attempts to return two bumbling British airmen to England and all the time René must keep secret from his wife his long-running affairs with his two waitresses or risk losing his cherished café. An innovative trick was the portrayal of languages, with French characters speaking English in a French accent whilst the 'English' had an upper-class twang. Hence the poor French of Englishman Crabtree (disguised as a gendarme) could be depicted by his serial mispronunciations, especially his famous greeting "Good Moaning".

It's the best known of a raft of catchphrases (Michelle’s "Listen very carefully, I shall say zis only once" coming a close second). The comedy maintained a large number of subplots and returning characters (including the camp Lieutenant Gruber, undertaker Monsieur Alfonse and forger Leclerc), cheerfully revelling in a bawdy 'picture postcard' humour. To cram in the twisting story, episodes would run on from each other linked by René's opening monologues to camera. Written and performed as a farce, writers David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd made great play of national stereotypes (sex-obsessed French, posh British twits) but this didn't stop the show becoming a massive success on both sides of the Channel. 'Allo 'Allo! treated the war itself quite reverently, but targeted more specifically the raft of wartime dramas that were flooding TV schedules, especially ITV series Secret Army (1977-1979), about the Resistance movement. It may not have quite the enduring appeal of Dad's Army, but over 85 episodes retained a strong, popular, family following.

Question: What is the name of the police officer in the TV comedy series 'Allo 'Allo?
Answer: Crabtree